MSC ARCHITECTURE: ADVANCED ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY STUDIES
This course is also offered through Distance Learning.
Course Summary
The exciting range of course material covers technical, social, political and economic aspects of environmental and energy issues at both global and local levels. Taught lectures from field experts, practical exercises and individual research, combined with tutorials and seminars among supportive staff and enthusiastic peers allow students to develop a wide breadth of skills and knowledge whilst giving the flexibility to investigate areas of interest in more depth.
Each month (except August and December) a five day residential module is run at CAT. Students choose eight of these modules and complete a thesis to gain an MSc. A full programme of lectures, seminars, tutorials and practicals runs throughout the five days. There is, however, still time for lively discussions with staff, guest lecturers and fellow students from a fascinating array of backgrounds.
All food and accommodation is provided within CAT and the surrounding area, offering a captivating learning environment.
From September to February modules cover environment and energy fundamentals. March to July looks at building in an environmental context and issues of environmental design.
Students also have the option to take modules by distance learning after their first one at CAT.
Module Contents A1 - Environment and energy in world context
Main Topics of Study:
Politics, economics and law
Environment and energy in world context
Environmental space and ecological footprint
Renewable energy overview
Lectures:
Environment and Energy
World Resources
Economic growth
Limits to Growth
Urban Sustainability
Sustainability in Architecture
Energy and Nuclear power
Change or Business as Usual
Renewable Energy
Workshops:
Energy Calculations
Environmental Impact calculations
Sauna
Solar electric calculations
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
A2 - Climate, Comfort and Building Performance
Main Topics of Study:
Climate and micro climate
Thermal Comfort
Climatic influences in design
Heat transfer
energy conservation
thermal capacity
thermal performance of buildings
Principles of solar electric
Thermal Performance of Buildings
Heat transfer
Lectures:
Climate
Topography
Climate Change
Condensation
Thermal Comfort
Climate Influences on Design
Contraction and Convergence
Solar Electric Systems
Heat transfer
Thermal Performance
Principles of Ventilation
Thermal Mass
Workshops:
Sauna
Solar electric calculations
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
A3 - Ventilation and Cooling; Dampness and Condensation
Main Topics of Study:
Principles of Ventilation
Building Services
Solar resource and Solar Collectors
Solar Water heating systems
Lectures:
Principles of Ventilation
Cooling Techniques
Energy performance
Computer simulation
Thermal Mass
Building Services: an environmental perspective
Solar Resource
Solar Water Heating
Workshops:
Condensation calculations
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
A4 - Principles of light: artificial light; Daylight factor, Biomass and Hydro
Main Topics of Study:
Lighting: artificial and natural
Sunlight and solar gain
Principles of Artificial lighting
Lighting design for low energy
Daylighting
Design for Daylight
Sunlight Geometry
Solar gain and Solar shading
Principles of energy from Biomass
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Principles of Hydro Power
Lectures:
Principles of Lighting
Artificial Lighting
Natural Lighting; Daylight, Sunlight and Solar Gain
Solar Shading
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
Principles of Biomass
European Biomass and CHP
Principles of Hydro Power
Workshops:
Lighting Calculations
Sunlight exercises
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
A5 - Occupant health and well being; Principles of Noise and Windpower
Main Topics of Study:
Health and well-being
Indoor Air Quality
Contaminated Land
Fuel Poverty
Urbanisation and Health
Noise
Introduction to Wind Power
Lectures:
Urban Health: sick cities
Indoor Air Quality
Fuel Poverty
Brown Fields
Contaminated Land
Urbanisation and Health
Basic Principles of Noise
Noise Control
Intro to Wind Power
Workshops:
Exercises on noise control and planning
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
A6 - Computer Simulation of Buildings
Main Topics of Study:
Dynamic thermal simulation
lighting simulation
computational fluid dynamics
simplified methods
Lectures:
Computer simulation of buildings
Data for simulation
Modelling strategies
Lighting
Computational fluid dynamics
Practical examples
Workshops:
Introduction to Integrated Environmental Solutions software
Practicals:
Simulation project
B1 - Energy, Environment and Buildings
Main Topics of Study:
Environmental assessment and indicators
BREEAM
Eco homes
LEED etc
Embodied energy and life cycle analysis
Building with an environmental agenda
Lectures:
Environmental Impact of Buildings
Environmental assessment
Assessments Methods
The Intelligent Building
Energy Distribution
Building Performance in relation to the environment
Workshops:
Assessment methods
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
B2 - Planning, Environmental Impact and Post Occupancy Evaluation
Main Topics of Study:
Legislation
SAP
Planning and environmental impact assessment
Society and environmental
Eco-psychology
Environmental management and ISO 14001
Post occupancy evaluation
Lectures:
Post occupancy evaluation
Environmental management
ISO14001
Ecopsychology
Durable cities and lasting communities
Limits to growth
Contraction and convergence
European policy on the environment
Practicals:
Daylight Factor
Heliodon
Daylight and Sunlight Indicators
Thermal Comfort
Stratification
ERoEI
Eco Homes
Solar Electric
Solar Thermal
Wind Power
Hydro Power
Sewage Treatment
Computer Simulation
B3 - Environmentally responsive materials; practical examination
Main Topics of Study:
Environmentally Responsive Materials
Straw, Concrete, Hemp and Lime
Contained Composite Materials
Timber, Cardboard and Earth
Lectures:
Specialist lectures on environmentally responsive materials such as Straw
Contained composite structures
Timber use
Rammed Earth
Timber construction
Practicals:
Most of the module is taken up with construction sessions involving the materials above.
B8 - Environmental Politics, Economics and Legislation
Main Topics of Study:
Politics, economics and law
Environment and energy in world context
Lectures/Seminars:
The global economy and the demand for energy
The politics of climate change
Economics go green
Agenda 21 and the Sustainable City- an answer or another problem?
The European Union, an overview of legislation
The Politics of environmentalism in the UK
Concrete Britain, the pressure to build housing
The building regulations, appeasement or radical change?
Seminars will consider the major themes of global politics, economics and then develop a focus on the issues relating to the UK.
B4 - Design and Evaluation
Main Topics of Study:
Design decisions made within environmental parameters
Lectures:
Urban Design
Sustainable design principles
Aesthetics and Green Design
Workshops:
Working in groups to collaboratively resolve the requirements of a design brief to a strategic level, with consideration given to materials, site layout and environmental constraints.
B5 - Fabrication and Experimentation Project (working in groups)
Main Topics of Study:
Experimentation, Fabrication and Evaluation within an environmental context
Lectures:
Various related to concepts of experimentation and evaluation
Practicals:
In groups students are required to construct an element or elements related to a building or the construction process that specifically explores environmental issues in an innovative way and conduct an evaluation of this.
B6 - Solar Thermal *
Main Topics of Study:
This module involves students working in groups and examines the problems of the design and planning decisions made in relation to a renewable energy system and how these decisions integrate with and impact on building design, site evaluation and setting up of continuous monitoring. Re-evaluation of design decisions, construction of working system and evaluation of performance.
B7 - Solar Electric *
Main Topics of Study:
After attendance at the appropriate Thesis Workshop, students are encourages to attend informal thesis discussions which take place every module. These consist of a number of students and staff with initial ideas for an individual thesis subject being discussed and commented on. At the sixth attended modules students are requested to make a formal presentation of their thesis proposal. This is registered by the thesis coordinator who then allocates an appropriate supervisor and continues to track the student performance until hand in. All students are encouraged to produce a publishable paper based on the thesis material.
The thesis is read by two members of staff and the external examiner.
* Students who are interested in the number limited modules B6 and B7 will have to complete a self assessed questionnaire to determine their suitability for these modules. The questionnaire will be available nearer to the module dates.
Assessment Students are expected to complete a set of course work for each of the eight modules, and a final thesis of fifteen-thousand words.
Coursework for each module usually consists of an essay or critique of paper, a presentation and a practical report. Fees Course fees from September 2008 are as follows:
One Year Full Time:The course can be started in March or September.
MSc AEES fees for Home students - £4,800
MSc AEES fees for Overseas students - £9,600
Two Years Part Time:The course can be started in either March or September and payments made in two installments.
Year 1 - £2,400
Year 2 - £2,400
Total cost - £4,800
We are proud of the diversity of our student body and, because we recognise that our students' personal and financial circumstances vary widely, we can offer students a number of different ways to pay fees.
Home/European Union Students
Early payment discount.
If you pay your fee (or fees payable for the year if studying part-time) in full, in advance, or on enrolment, you will be eligible for a 5% discount.
Instalment Plan
Students completing the course over one year. It is possible to pay in four (or eight if part-time) Direct Debit instalments - September, December, March and June.
Overseas Students
· 50% of the fee is due on application.
· The balance is due on registration Career Prospects In general, with increasing public interest and awareness of environmental issues, there is a significant skill shortage in this area world wide. In the UK the following employment opportunities exist:-
Construction companies: there are a number of companies in the construction industry that are becoming interested in environmental issues. They may have environmental sections. These require the range of expertise which the course provides.
Architectural practices: as above but often smaller organisations and of particular interest to already qualified architects.
NGOs: (e.g. FOE or Greenpeace) these often have very specific environmental agendas. The nature of the work done on the course would equip students well for these tasks.
The installation trade: the design and installation of the various renewable energy systems requires particular expertise. The course with its theoretical and practical content is very suited to this activity.
Local Authorities: Many counties are signed up to the requirements of Agenda 21. Once again this requires expertise which the course provides
Consultancies: there is a good opportunity for students completing the MSc course to establish their own consultancy and there is a possibility of students from the course working together in these. They could take the form of design and advice or be more practical in the form of specialised building or installation companies.
Many opportunities are advertised, in particular in the Guardian on Thursdays, and the specialist publication ENDS (Environmental Data Services) published monthly.
The Graduate School of the Environment's Student Intranet has a careers section with details of relevant organisations, job oportunities and useful links.
An example of just some of the positions that recent graduates have gained are;
Renewable Energy Consultant, large engineering company
Consultant Green roofs
Environmental Archetecture Consultant
Senior Researcher, School of Architecture
Consultant - Water Management Systems
Training Manager BRE
Renewable Energy/Sustainable Design Consultant
Principal Consultant BRE
Consultant Renewable Energy on farms
Sustainability Officer, Science Museum
Building Surveyor, London Borough Council
Sustainable Building Consultant, large engineering company
Sustainable Development Manager. Environment Centre
Project Dissemination Officer. Environment Centre
Development Director. Overseas Aid Charity
Importing and Distributing Environmental Sanitation Products
Director, EcoEnergy Consultancy
Renewable energy lobbying organisation
Running own company in Green Domestic Audit Consultants
Sustainable Builder. Environmental Organisation
Sustainability Director within a large Consultancy
Consultancy Coordinator. Environmental Organisation
Business Development Manager, Environmental Organisation
PhD Environmental Impact of Sustainable Building project
PhD Use of hemp and lime in Sustainable Building
Lecturers MSc Architecture
Project Manager. Sustainable Building Project
Solar Water Heating Systems Installer
Sustainability Consultant and member of Transition Town Steering Group
Manager Photovoltaic Systems Company
Architect Adviser in Sustainability
Builder Straw Bale Building Company
Manager Eco Renovation Company
Eco Renovation Company. Gites France
Builder - Straw modular systems
Sustainability Consultant - Scott Wilson Ltd
Graduate Consultant - Inbuilt Ltd
